Roundtable Topic 2: Alignment

This page comprises information on background resources for Roundtable 2, compiled by the United Nations Development Programme. It does not necesserily represent the views of the Third High Level Forum organizers.

To access detailed information on the background resources for Capacity building listed below, please visit the UNDP Aid Effectiveness Portal.

Background Resources: Capacity building

ActionAid, “Real Aid: Making Technical Assistance Work”, 2005
In a stringing criticism of donor practices, ActionAid finds that TA, making up at least a quarter of all ODA, is overpriced and ineffective, and in the worst cases destroys rather than builds the capacity of the poorest countries. Most TA is designed and managed by donors, implemented by firms from the donor’s own country, poorly coordinated and based on false assumptions about expatriate knowledge and recipient ignorance. It is under-evaluated, and stubbornly resistant to change. ActionAid suggests four principles for improving TA: putting recipient countries in the lead; giving them more space to choose their own development path; greater mutual accountable; and more specificity of assistance to country conditions. It advises Southern governments to draw up clear capacity-building plans, and to reject all offers of TA falling outside this framework.   

OECD DAC, “2006 Survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration: Overview of the results”, 2007
For the baseline survey, respondents were asked to identify TA meeting all four of the following criteria: (i) the TA supports the national development strategy; (ii) partner countries exercise effective leadership, including clearly communicated objectives from senior officials; (iii) donors integrate their support within county-led programmes; (iv) there are arrangements for coordinating donor contributions, especially pooled funding. What resulted was marked difference in perception between donor and partner country respondents. Partner countries often took the view that no TA at all met all four criteria.  Donors tended to score their own programmes more generously. The official baseline was set at 48%, but the DAC notes that this is not a robust figure.

Agulhas, “What is required to deliver external assistance through country systems?”, Thematic Study No. 2, Asian Regional Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Manila, October 2006
This report is based on case studies of procurement reforms in the Philippines and PFM reforms in Bangladesh. The case studies illustrate the importance of long-term, incremental reforms, in which process elements rather than technical sophistication are the main determinants of success. They point to a number of key success factors, including reform processes that are owned and driven by country stakeholders, painstaking consensus building and political management to build and sustain country ownership, a long-term vision for reform supported by considerable short-term tactical flexibility, leadership by the partner country over the form of TA, and TA providers with political and diplomatic, as well as technical, skills. 

OECD DAC, “Harmonising donor practices for effective aid delivery: Vol. 2 – Budget support, sector-wide approaches and capacity development in public financial management”, 2006
These DAC guidelines on capacity development in PFM reflect contemporary thinking on good practice in TA. It stresses four key principles: (i) country leadership and ownership; (ii) the design and sequencing of reforms should fit country circumstances, rather than standard or imported solutions; (iii) capacity development must cover the institutional, organisational and individual levels, including both managerial and technical aspects; (iv) donor support should be provided in a coherent, coordinated and programmatic manner. 

Country Analytic Work
This is a directory of country-level analytical work contributed by some 50 different donor organisations. Its extensive document library can be searched by country, agency or theme. 

SIGMA
Sigma is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), principally financed by the EU, which supports potential EU members on strengthening country systems. Sigma papers include technical studies on issues such as procurement, developing central policy capacity, PFM, Supreme Audit Institutions, PAR and many other areas.

Capacity.org
Capacity.org is a web magazine-cum-portal intended for practitioners and policy makers who work in or on capacity development in international cooperation in the South. It contains short articles on experiences in capacity development in many different countries.

United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN)
UNPAN promotes the sharing of knowledge, experiences and best practices throughout the world in sound public policies, effective public administration and efficient civil services, through capacity-building and cooperation among the United Nations Member States, with emphasis on south-south cooperation. The site contains analytical reports and best practice guidance on civil service reform.